


Closure

by Fullmetal_Bitch



Series: Scars [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith doesn't say anything, Mentions of Death, Much langst, Original Character(s), Referenced Suicidal Thoughts, allura and coran are mentioned - Freeform, dealing with grief, he's just awkward, it's probably shit, lots of hugging, nothing descriptive, this was written in a few hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25514539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullmetal_Bitch/pseuds/Fullmetal_Bitch
Summary: My completely unplanned sequel to 'Scars'! Voltron is called to defend a planet whose people have a unique method in helping other's cope with a loved one's death. Lance will soon find out firsthand what that method is
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Hunk & Lance (Voltron)
Series: Scars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848442
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Closure

Lance snarled as he forced Blue to dive in order to dodge what Lance assumed was a kamikaze Galran fighter determined to try and damage her by crashing into her. He pulled her out of the sharp dive and swore he felt her paw skim the surface of the planet they were currently trying to defend. Bringing her back into the fight, Lance took out a dozen fighters while he made sure that Blue hadn't been hit by the one they'd been forced to dodge. A warm purr filled his mind as his Lion tried her best to reassure him that she was alright. Deciding to trust her, Lance pulled his attention away from her systems and focused back on the fight at hand.

Voltron had received a message from the planet they were currently fighting for, however it had initially been a request to speak with them about joining the coalition. Allura had been delighted because Risban was a planet who primarily kept to itself. It had a dozen neighbours within a few hours space flight of itself but, for reasons Allura either didn't know or didn't bother to explain to the Paladins, they rarely interacted with them outside of trade agreements. Risban and Allura had been speaking when the leader, Rohan, had suddenly disappeared from the screen. Before Allura could really question what had happened, Rohan was back on the screen and telling her that the Galran were about to attack. Allura had immediately volunteered Voltron to help and Risban had accepted the offer with no hesitation.

That had been nearly two hours ago and Lance was sure he wasn't the only Paladin who was mildly pissed off that this fight was still going. He'd never seen the Galra so determined to take control of a planet that they would stay engaged with Voltron rather than retreat, even just to regroup and call for back-up. Lance was just grateful they hadn't contacted the witch and gotten a Robeast sent to them to use yet. He was certain that he wouldn't be reprimanded by anyone for any of the cusswords he let out if that did happen.

He pulled Blue into a roll, successfully avoiding a barrage of shots from the fighters in front of him before he immediately returned fire. However, during the roll, something on the ground had caught his attention and he sent Blue into a loop, slow enough for him to check what he thought he'd seen but quick enough that no one was able to get a good shot in. he felt his heart drop as he realised what was happening below him.

"Shiro! Some Galra have slipped past us! They're trying to take some of the Risban natives!" Lance called over the comms as he dodged a shot from an ion canon belonging to one of the bigger ships.

He heard Shiro mutter something but he couldn't make it out. _"Can you get to them?"_ Shiro asked and Lance brought Blue back around so he could check on the situation once more.

The Galrans on the ground were trying to force a large group of the aliens Voltron was trying to protect to walk towards a large transport ship that sat hidden under a rock formation, making it impossible for Lance to get in a shot from the air. However, if he was on the ground… "Yeah but I'd need to be on the ground and out of Blue," Lance told him.

He could feel Shiro warring with himself about what to do. Keith, Pidge and Hunk had all stayed quiet, continuing to give the Galrans in the air a reason not to forget they were there while Shiro made his decision. Both Hunk and Keith managed to take down one of the mother ships, causing Lance to let out a whoop and praise both of them before Shiro got back on the line.

" _Get down there but stay safe,"_ Shiro ordered.

Lance immediately fired at the Galran fighters blocking his way and pulled Blue down towards the ground. "Will do, bossman!" Lance said as he and Blue headed for the group of kidnapped Risbans.

Blue was immediately targeted by the Galrans surrounding the large group but the shots may as well have been fired into the ground for all they did to Lance's Lion. Before they landed, Lance carefully aimed Blue's tail laser and took down four of the guards. Once on the ground, he was able to take out the transport ship. He called for Blue's shield before the shrapnel could hit her or the aliens on the ground. Lance had landed in the perfect spot where the Galrans escorting their would-be prisoners were all cut off from them by the shield encasing the Blue Lion.

Giving her console a pat, Lance disengaged his harness and headed out of Blue to do a perimeter check of the shield and take down any Galrans on the ground so they wouldn't cause problems when Lance eventually called for Blue to lower her shield. All of the Risbans were hiding under the Blue Lion's legs, which Lance appreciated since it meant he wouldn't accidentally shoot one or have to waste time asking them to get under Blue. He nodded to them before he materialised his bayard and trained the rifle's muzzle on the first Galran he saw trying to shoot down Blue's shield.

"Lower your shield right in front of me, darl," Lance asked Blue, firing a shot just as the section of shield came down. "Up again," he said and Blue did so just as another Galran tried to take advantage of the partially dropped shield.

This continued in that fashion for several minutes as Lance slowly made his way around the shield's perimeter, ordered Blue to lower part of it before he fired a shot, took down a Galran and had Blue bring her shield back up before repeating the process. There'd been a couple of near-misses for both him and any Risban native unfortunate enough to be behind him when a Galran managed to get a shot in through the hole in the shield but Lance always made sure they didn't live to try it a second time.

Lance had managed to work his way so he was almost halfway between Blue's front and back legs when a cry came from the other side of the shield. His heat dropped into his stomach when he realised that it was the cry of a child and sure enough, when he looked for the source of the noise, there was a small Risban child crouched on the ground, their hands over their ears as they cried, trying to block out the noise of the fighting going on around them. They'd likely been separated from the group without the Galrans noticing but had come out of hiding when they saw the Blue Lion land to protect their people and now they were caught and unable to move. Lance didn't hesitate.

"BLUE!" he called as he moved, running straight for the shield. Blue lowered the shield a moment before Lance collided with it and Lance mentally thanked her and told her to bring it back up until he was back.

The Blue Paladin could hear his teammates in his helmet yelling at him but he ignored them as he closed the distance between himself and the child in front of him. The movement of running caused some flashes of pain in his right leg as the damaged muscles and scarred tissue stretched past the point they should but Lance ignored it in favour of getting to his target quicker. He didn't return fire unless there was a Galran too close to the child for his comfort until he'd slid to a stop in front of the small Risban. The moment he came to a stop, Lance raised his rifle and took down the Galrans starting to surround them. He never missed a shot, knowing that if he did, the child would likely be the one to pay for it since they didn't have any armour like he did.

Lance took three glancing blows, which made him exceptionally grateful for his armour, before he finished taking down all the Galrans on the ground. There had been several moments where Lance thought he'd never finish taking them down since several fighters took it upon themselves to land so that the pilots could try and take Lance on themselves but his four teammates were quick to realise what was happening and take down any fighter who so much as dipped towards Lance and the child he was trying to protect. When he took down the last on-ground Galran, Lance held his position for a few moments, sure that the moment he lowered his weapon would be the moment that a Galran appeared out of nowhere but nothing of the like happened.

Crouching in front of the terrified child, Lance gave them a kind smile. "Can you understand what I'm saying?" was the first thing Lance asked. They'd learned early on in their careers as intergalactic heroes that some species of aliens could understand them but weren't able to talk back because they were too young to talk.

The child nodded, removing their hands from their ears and looking up at Lance with wide, wet eyes. The entire eye was black, no iris or sclera that Lance could see, which was a little disconcerting but he didn't let the child see any sign of that. "My name is Lance," he said, introducing himself. "I'm the Blue Paladin of Voltron and we were asked by your planet's leader to help when they saw that the Galran were going to try and attack you guys," Lance explained, keeping his voice calm and low. The child was watching him in awe now. "Would it be okay with you if I took you over to my Lion? She's really friendly and a lot of your people are waiting with her," Lance said. He didn't want to force the child to go with him – there'd been a few times one of them had done that and ended up in a cryopod because the child had panicked – but he knew they needed to get back to Blue in case something happened.

The child nodded in agreement and Lance felt himself sigh in relief before he gave them the biggest smile he could manage and offered his hand for them to hold. Six fingers wrapped around his five tightly as they both straightened, Lance's right leg shaking slightly, and Lance felt the child press against his side as best as they could. He was a little surprised to find that their shoulders came almost up to the bottom of his ribcage since the child had seemed a lot smaller crouched but he simply dismissed the surprise as they started forward. A roar above them had the child cower into Lance's side but Lance simply looked up and grinned as the Yellow Lion flew overhead.

"That's just the Yellow Lion and my best friend, Hunk," Lance told the child as he continued walking them forward. "They're just making sure we're safe while we make our way back to Blue," he said, looking down to meet the child's black eyes and smile reassuringly at them.

The child nodded at his words but their eyes still watched Yellow warily as she made her way back around, taking down fighters as she did. Lance glanced around them and saw the Green and Black Lions taking on another mothership while the Red Lion was mimicking Yellow without doing fly-bys over Lance and the Risban child. A silent request from Lance for her to do so had Blue lower her shield partially so that her Paladin and his temporary ward would be under her protection. Blue didn't wait for Lance's request to close her shield back up before she did so, something that caused Lance to grin at her as he finished escorting the child over to the group of Risbans.

Before Lance could say anything to either the main group or the child still clutching his hand, one of the Risbans was running towards him as best as they could considering the robes they were wearing. "Erri!" they called and the child almost literally lit up upon hearing and seeing the person heading for them.

Lance was quick to let go of their hand before they could accidentally tug him along with them and he felt his heart swell slightly as he took in the sight of the child being hugged by someone Lance assumed was one of their parents. A crackle in his comms caught his attention and he focused on the speaker. _"Lance, are you alright?"_ Shiro asked and Lance instinctively nodded before realising his mistake.

"Yeah, Shiro. I'm all good," he told him as he watched the older Risban fuss over the child.

" _Good because the lecture you're going to receive once we're done and back in the Castle-Ship will be something you won't forget,"_ Shiro promised him, his voice a mixture of relief and stern.

Lance barely managed to play of his snort as a sneeze. "Whatever you say, bossman," Lance said. "What's the plan now?" he asked as he took in the fighters the rest of his team were still against. He could see the Castle-Ship was now involved in the fight to more of a degree than it usually was, likely as a result of Blue being unintentionally grounded.

" _We're going to keep fighting. Right now, we don't need Blue in the air so if you can keep an eye on the ground and make sure no other Risbans are at threat of being taken prisoner, that would be really helpful. If we need to form Voltron, I'll let you know but right now your priority is the protection of the Risbans and ground cover,"_ Shiro told him.

Lance couldn't help but feel a pang of insecurity when Shiro told him he was to stay on the ground but, as he always did, he shoved it aside and focused on the fact that Shiro was trusting him to keep the Risbans safe. "You got it, Shiro. Just let me know if you need us back in the air," Lance said. He heard Shiro's grunt of agreement before he saw the Black Lion fire on a dozen fighters and Shiro's attention was off the communication systems.

"Blue Paladin?" a soft voice from behind him had Lance spinning to face the speaker and found himself face to face with the Risban who had greeted the child, Erri, upon spotting them.

"Yes?" Lance asked, a little unsure about what they wanted. Though, he mused to himself, it was likely that the Risbans wanted to know when they'd be able to get out from Blue's shield.

The Risban – and Lance was leaning towards this one being a female – gave him the most grateful smile he'd ever seen directed at him. "Thank you for saving my daughter," the Risban said, their voice choked with tears. "I had her hide when the Galrans first found us but she decided to try and follow us. When she saw your Lion land and the shield go up, she panicked and thought we were going to be separated. She ran out to try and get to us before she realised there was still Galran around," the Risban explained, Erri clinging to their side, cheeks a dark green that Lance was quickly able to realise meant she was blushing.

"There's no need to thank me," Lance told the Risban. "There's no way I would've left anyone in that sort of situation," he said. "Erri was very brave to try and follow you though. I don't know many children who would've been strong enough to try and find their parents while there was a lot of scary things happening," he said, giving the young Risban a soft smile that had her shyly hiding her face in the robes belonging to her parent.

The adult Risban smiled softly down at the young girl. "She certainly is," they said proudly, squeezing their daughter's hand before their black eyes found Lance's once more. "My name is Ané and I am Erri's mother," she said, introducing herself and confirming Lance's suspicions regarding her gender. "I would like to thank you for saving the only family I have left, Blue Paladin," she said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and Lance felt his heart go out to the Risban.

"My name is Lance and there is no need to thank me for saving her," Lance told her once more.

Ané simply shook her head, causing her silver hair to ripple as she did so. "You don't understand, Blue Paladin. To save the life of one of our children simply because you couldn't stand to see them hurt and not because it was expected of you means that the family of that child owes you a life debt," she explained. "You may ask of the family anything that you want and they must – so long as they are able to – do as you want," she told him.

"There isn't anything I want," Lance told her, a little concerned with how serious she seemed about this life debt. "I swear, you don't owe me anything for saving Erri," Lance said.

Ané didn't look convinced but she seemed to realise that Lance was a little uncomfortable and unsure about the situation. "I understand, Blue Paladin," she told him. "Please, you do not need to ask anything of me this moment and I realise that this is not the time to ask you to think of something but know that if you discover what you wish to ask of us, you may do so at any time," she said earnestly while Erri watched the exchange with wide eyes.

"I understand," Lance said, silently swearing to himself that he wouldn't be asking anything of the kind mother in front of him. He hadn't been lying when he said there was nothing he needed from them and, if he was being honest, he didn't feel comfortable with the fact that Ané felt indebted to him for doing something any decent person would've done. "Please let your people know that if you need me for any reason, I'll be on top of Blue, keeping an eye on everything. Just ask her to let me know if you need something," Lance said and Ané nodded once.

"I shall do so," she told him as she gripped Erri's hand. "Thank you for letting us know where you will be," she said gratefully.

Lance gave her a nod and smiled and waved at Erri, who returned both gestures shyly, before he watched them head towards the group of Risbans who had been watching them. Lance headed for the closest leg of Blue and absorbed his bayard into his armoured thigh before he started the climb. Once up on her back, he headed forwards, traversing her large frame until he was seated on the top of her head, almost directly in between her eyes as both she and he kept their eyes peeled for any enemies while Lance tried to shake the feeling that something significant was going to happen soon.

* * *

When the final Galran fighter was destroyed by Keith and Red, Lance out a cheer from where he stood on Blue's head. He'd only left his perch twice to leave Blue's shield so he could escort a small group of Risbans to Blue while he took care of the fighters who'd managed to avoid the four flying Lions and were low enough for Lance to take out with his sniper rifle. Once the group was safely with Ané's group, Lance would head back up onto Blue's head so he could use his scope to keep an eye on everything once more. He'd watched Yellow, Green, Red, and Black all fight alongside the Castle-Ship while Lance stayed on the ground, though he certainly didn't stay out of the fight. He called warnings through the comms and made suggestions as he watched the battle rage on.

" _Lance, we're coming down to meet you where you are. The Castle-Ship will be staying above us to keep an eye on the radar to ensure the Galrans hadn't managed to call for back-up but Allura and Coran will join us shortly if it stays clear,"_ Shiro told him. _"We'll perform our usual sweep once we're on the ground."_

"Roger that," Lance said as he switched his bayard from the sniper rifle to its neutral form and placed it back in his armour. "I'll let the Risbans know," he told him before he started the slide and climb down Blue so he could get back to the ground.

" _Thank you,"_ Shiro said before his attention was grabbed by something else.

It took Lance no time to get down to Blue's paw where he then leapt off it and pulled himself into a forward tumble before he got to his feet. The Risbans were watching him carefully and Lance supressed a shudder at having all of those fully black eyes on him. Giving them a sunny smile, Lance spoke up. "My team leader has contacted me to tell me that all the Galrans in the area have been taken care of. They'll be bringing the four Lions down nearby then doing an on-ground sweep to check there aren't any Galrans hiding in the area. Once we've gotten the all-clear, Blue will lower her shield and we'll escort you home," Lance told them, catching sight of Ané and Erri as he spoke and giving them both a smile.

"Thank you for letting us know, Blue Paladin," one of the Risbans said and it took Lance a few moments to realise that this one was Rohan, the leader of the planet who had been speaking with Allura when the Galran had first attacked. "We truly appreciate you and your team coming to our aid as quickly as you did and we are very thankful to you, Blue Paladin, for saving all of from being taken by the Galran," he said, voice filled with gratefulness.

Lance felt the ground tremble under his feet as each Lion landed nearby. "There's no need for you to thank me," Lance said, giving Rohan a smile. "We were just doing our jobs," he told him.

" _Black isn't picking up any life signs other than us and the Risbans,"_ Shiro's voice crackled in his ear, causing Lance to flinch at the unexpected voice.

"Got it," he said before he looked up at Blue. "Wanna bring your shield down, beautiful?" he asked and felt her purr in his mind before the electric blue shield fell. "My team leader says the area is clear," Lance told the waiting Risbans and swore he felt their sigh of relief.

Lance turned to head towards his fellow Paladins, all of whom were now exiting their Lions, when he felt a small hand grab his own. Looking down, he was unsurprised to find Erri clinging to his hand once more but he still glanced over his shoulder to find Ané. The woman simply smiled at Lance, which he hoped meant she was alright with her kid sticking to him rather than her as he headed for his team, Erri in tow. He didn't need to check over his shoulder again to know that the Risbans were following him since it was the most logical thing for them to do since Lance had told them that Voltron would be helping them home. When Lance turned back to face his team as they approached, he realised they weren't wearing their helmets – a sure sign the atmosphere was fine for humans – and he was quick to remove his own and clip it to his belt before he ran his free hand through his brunette locks so try and prevent helmet hair.

"Lance!" the call from Hunk didn't surprise the Blue Paladin and Lance raised a hand in greeting.

"That's Hunk. He was the one having Yellow fly over us while we walked towards Blue," Lance explained to Erri, who nodded. "Hunk!" he called back, pairing it with a wave that stopped only when Hunk collided into him, nearly toppling him and Erri.

"What were you thinking heading out into an active fight without back-up?!" Hunk asked the moment he let go of Lance, though his hands were still on his shoulder so he could glare at his best friend with worry and anger at Lance's apparent disregard for his own safety.

"I couldn't leave her by herself," Lance told him, tilting his head to Erri, who Hunk seemed to have not even noticed if the way he blinked in surprise at the young Risban said anything. "Hunk, this is Erri," Lance said when he realised Hunk didn't know what to say in response to his statement.

"Hi, Erri," Hunk said, giving the young girl a smile that had her looking away before he pinned Lance with a look. "You're still in trouble for worrying us," he told him firmly.

"That is completely unsurprising and totally fair," Lance said with a massive grin on his face as the other three joined them. "Erri, this is Pidge, Keith and Shiro," he said, using the opportunity to introduce the young Risban to the three of them in order to stave off any lectures he might've gotten. "They're the Green, Red and Black Paladins," he said. "This is Erri and," Lance looked over his shoulder, twisting slightly until he spotted her, "her mother, Ané, is over there with Rohan," he told them, pointing at the two nearby adults.

"It's an honour to meet you, Erri," Shiro said while Pidge and Keith both tried to look like they weren't unsure of how to react to a child clinging to Lance. "You're still in trouble though," Shiro informed Lance, who merely nodded.

"Hunk warned me," he said cheerily while Erri watched them all. He caught sight of Pidge trying to smile at Erri, whose black eyes were now on the only female pilot of a Lion, while pretending she wasn't trying to hide behind Hunk to avoid having to interact with Erri and he couldn't stop his laughter. "You're worse than Rachel was when our little sisters were born," he said, voice hitching as he forced himself to keep talking after saying Rachel's name.

It had been several weeks since the team-bonding session where they'd discussed one of their scars and how they'd gotten it and Pidge had asked about one of Lance's scars and unknowingly caused him to flashback to one of the most traumatic moments of his life. The sniped comment from Keith had caused Lance to snap before he fled the common room they'd been relaxing in, with Hunk following close behind after assuring the rest of the team that they didn't do anything wrong and that he'd talk to Lance. That talk had ended with Hunk convincing Lance that it would be a good idea to talk about his twin sister, Rachel, and the events surrounding her death and the scars on his right leg with everyone else in the hope that it might help Lance heal a little inside.

Lance had agreed and the whole story had come tumbling out of his mouth almost without his permission once he was back in the common room. He'd been left emotionally wrung out, wanting nothing more than to escape to his room and curl up for days on end by the time he'd finished speaking. The team had been stunned to learn that Lance had not only gone through something as horrific as Rachel's and his accident and her death but that he'd managed to hide it so well that none of them had suspected he'd gone through anything like that. The next few days were both grief-filled as Lance tried to sort out his emotions once more and awkward as it soon became obvious that no one – Hunk excluded – knew how to act around Lance after the revelation. Lance didn't know what he did but he did know Hunk had done something since four days after everyone found out about Rachel, they were all acting far closer to how they normally did around Lance before the conversation.

Nowadays, the team dynamic was pretty much back to how it had been before and Lance was finding himself bringing Rachel up or slipping her into conversations far more often than he had with his own family in the months between Rachel's death and him and Hunk being accepted into the Garrison. It still hurt to say Rachel's name and some days Lance couldn't do it at all without being overwhelmed by his grief but he was slowly learning how to deal with his grief healthily. Allura and Coran had – once they realised that walking on eggshells around Lance wasn't the way to help – been able to support Lance just as much as Hunk had during those months back on Earth. With having to deal with the loss of their whole planet, they were well practised in grief and had tentatively offered Lance some ways that they'd found helpful when it came to coping.

"I thought you said Rachel was good with kids?" Shiro asked, partially because he was curious and partially because he wanted Lance to talk about Rachel when he could without feeling any sort of grief when doing so.

Lance didn't notice the way Ané or Erri seemed to look at him with a mix of sadness and contemplation before Ané turned once more to Rohan. "She was! But we were five when our eldest youngest sister was born and Rachel had no idea how to react to a human smaller than her," Lance told them, slightly proud of how his voice didn't shake as he spoke about Rachel this time. "There weren't any cousins born in Cuba while we were there who were closer to our younger sisters' ages than ours so Rachel and I hadn't really had much to do with kids smaller than us," he explained.

"Well, I don't have any cousins and I'm the younger sister so you can't judge me," Pidge hissed at Lance while she glanced at Erri and flashed her what Lance suspected was supposed to be a friendly smile but had ended up kind of strained.

"Blue Paladin?" the soft call of his name had Lance looking over his shoulder to see Ané and Rohan approaching the six of them.

"Hey, Ané," Lance said, frowning slightly. "Is everything alright?" he asked, frowning at the both of them. The thought that perhaps they were there to see about when they would be helped back to their homes crossed his mind but the serious looks on their faces told Lance that he was likely wrong in that assumption.

"No, everything is fine," Rohan assured him. "Ané wished to speak with you about something and I merely wished to know whether Princess Allura and her advisor, Coran, would be joining us," he said, looking at each of them in search for his answers.

"Princess Allura and Coran are currently conducting searches with the Castle-Ship's radar to ensure there are no more incoming Galrans. I am unsure as to when they will be finishing with that duty but if you'd like, I'd be willing to contact them and ask," Shiro offered.

Rohan certainly looked appreciative of the offer and soon verbalised that appreciate. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Black Paladin," Rohan said, dipping his head.

"It's no problems," Shiro assured him as he took a few steps to the side so that he could speak to Allura or Coran without interrupting any other conversation happening amongst the others.

"Blue Paladin," Ané said, getting Lance's attention once more, "I believe I know what I can do in order to repay you for saving Erri," she told him. He'd barely opened his mouth to protest that she didn't owe him anything once more when she'd continued, cutting off his protest. "Part of the reason Risban doesn't interact with our neighbouring planets, no matter how friendly they are, is because some of our people have a special ability that is – as far as we know – unique to our species. It is an ability that is passed from mother to daughter but only if the father's mother also possesses this ability," she explained. "I possess this ability but Erri does not since her grandmother on her father's side didn't have the ability," Ané told them, obviously trying to ensure they understood what she'd said.

Lance barely noticed Erri nodding beside him as though confirming her mother's words. "This ability is not well known simply because it could be…" Ané trailed off as she seemed to search for the words she needed, "abused by people," she settled for. "Our ability is to be able to summon those who have passed from our realm into the next so that they may speak with their loved ones or pass along information they need to in order to find everlasting peace," Ané revealed. "They do not speak through us but rather take on a corporeal body of their own, so they look just as they did when they were alive, in order to speak to those they need to," she explained, not noticing or ignoring the stunned looks on Keith's and Hunk's faces, the disbelieving one on Pidge's and the emotionless expression on Lance's face. "I heard you speak your Rachel's name and I could sense the grief and blame within you," she told Lance, her black eyes filled with sympathy when she met his blue ones. "I can help you find peace," she said softly and before Lance could do anything, she was gripping the sides of his head with both her hands.

The four Paladins – Shiro now finished with his conversation with Allura and Pidge – called out in panic when Ané grabbed Lance, her black eyes glowing faintly. Rohan was quick to stop them from trying to remove her grip from their teammate. "This is a delicate process. You cannot stop it before it's completed. Any outside interruption can have dire consequences on both of them," he warned them, making the four of them back off.

Hunk was watching the pair with concerned eyes. Lance didn't look like he was in pain and Erri didn't seem phased by what her mother was doing, both of which told Hunk that it was likely that Ané wasn't hurting Lance but that didn't mean he wasn't worried. Whatever this woman could do, it would have something to do with Rachel and Hunk would readily admit that he was terrified about what that could do to his best friend's mental health. The Yellow Paladin glanced at the others on his team and knew they were barely managing to take Rohan's words to heart and stop themselves from intervening.

Just as suddenly as it had happened, Ané was releasing Lance, her eyes no longer glowing, and taking a step back, dipping slightly to grab Erri's hand to pull her daughter to her side as she moved a couple of steps away from Lance. Shiro was the first one to recover from the shock as Lance shook his head, like he had water in his ears. "What did you do to him?" Shiro asked as Hunk grabbed Lance by the shoulder so he could check on his best friend.

Ané didn't seem phased by his demanding tone. In fact, her eyes never left Lance. "Please be patient for a few moments. You are not a Risban and you're a long way from home. It may take a little longer for you," she said, speaking to Lance, who didn't seem to hear her. Erri was watching Lance with worry in her eyes but it seemed to Shiro that her worry wasn't about what her mother may have done but for how Lance didn't seem to have heard her mother's words.

"Lance?" the completely foreign voice said softly, sounding both relieved to see Lance but confused about where she was.

Upon hearing the female voice, Lance yanked himself away from Hunk and had rematerialised his rifle all before Shiro could do much more than locate the source of the voice. It wasn't hard for anyone to realise who exactly was standing only a couple of metres away from, her hands raised partially in a soothing gesture and to show she wasn't a threat as Lance trained his rifle on her. She looked exactly like Lance but with softer features, a curvier body and longer hair that was the same shade as Lance's except for a random strip on the right side of her head that had been dyed almost the same shade of blue as her eyes. She was watching Lance and only Lance as she kept her hands up but Shiro could see just how much Rachel wanted to grab her brother and hug him tightly.

"Lance, it's me, _hermano_ ," Rachel said, her voice soothing and calm so she didn't accidentally make the situation any more tense than it was.

"Rachel's dead," Lance snarled, his voice barely more than a growl. "Who are you? What have you done?" he asked, though the second question was aimed at Ané rather than the person in front of him.

"That is your Rachel," Ané said, her voice as calm as Rachel's. It was obvious that this was something she'd gone through with someone else since she didn't seem offended or surprised by Lance's reaction. "I could feel your pain when you spoke about her. I knew she was no longer amongst the living just from the emotions I sensed from you. I have brought her here so you can have one last conversation with her and perhaps find some closure," Ané explained calmly.

Hunk looked stunned and torn as his eyes flicked from his best friend to his dead friend and back once more and Shiro could see the way Lance was trembling slightly, though his rifle was still being held steady. The Black Paladin wasn't sure what he should even be doing in this situation but Lance took the decision out of his hands quickly.

"Prove it," Lance demanded of the teenager in front of him. "Prove you're my Rachel and that this isn't some sick, twisted joke," he ordered, his voice shaking as he did so.

Rachel's eyes softened as she took in her brother and her hands lowered slightly, causing the plain, purple t-shirt she was wearing to shift minutely. "My name is Rachel McClain. I was born July 28th at 6:36 in the morning in the hospital my mother, Theresa McClain, worked in. I'm the younger sister of Luis and Veronica McClain and I am the older sister of Lance, Rosa and Maria McClain. I'm the tía of Nadia and Sylvio, the spawn of Luis and his wife, Lisa," she told him, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke. Something about her words had Lance chuckle slightly and Shiro could see the glint of delight in Rachel's eyes. "Lance McClain is my twin brother, who was born 43 minutes after I was on the morning of July 28th and we were so close that we had our own language," she told him. "We moved to America when we were nine and Lance met Hunk," here her eyes flicked over to the Yellow Paladin who was then given a smile before she focused back on her brother, "and became best friends with him. I was so jealous that I didn't speak to you for nearly two weeks if I didn't have to and I ignored Hunk for nearly a month," she whispered. Shiro could see Lance's rifle dip slightly as the Blue Paladin's jaw fell slack.

"We started dancing together in Cuba when our teacher begged you and Mamá to let you join so that we had more students when we were six. We fell in love with dancing and won several competitions before we moved to America," Rachel said, her hands now completely by her side, brushing against her blue jeans in an almost nervous manner. Lance's eyes spotted the detail but he didn't drop his weapon. "We continued to compete in dance with each other as our partner," she continued speaking. "Four months before our 16th birthday, we were on the roof of our home when I asked you what you wanted to do if you could do anything and you told me that you wanted to see the stars and explore unknown planets and bring weird presents back for our family and name unknown constellations after us before our scientists named them something stupid," she said with a wet chuckle, tears streaming down her face.

"And you told me that you were already doing what you wanted to do most in the world with the person who you wanted to do it most with when I asked you," Lance said, his voice cracking with emotions, his rifle now pointing to the ground.

Rachel beamed at him; the brightness of her smile dampened by her tears. "Two weeks after that conversation, you slept through your alarm and nearly made us late for dance class," she said, the smile gone and her voice heavy. "We raced to dance class after telling Mamá that we loved her and would see her at lunch."

"You won the race and you were gloating about it when we stopped across the road from the dance building. I stopped in front of you though because I almost missed the fact that we were there already," Lance said, his voice matching Rachel's. "Our friends and classmates were heading inside and were waving and calling for us to hurry up so we wouldn't be late," he said, eyes welling with tears once more. "I grabbed your hand and pulled you into the road so we could join them. I never checked the street was clear before I did that."

"I pushed you out of the way of the car and saved your life."

"I pulled you in front of that car and got you killed." Both of them had spoken at the same time, their voices mingling together as they said their last sentences.

Rachel shook her head and it was obvious she wanted to say something but had decided to put it aside for the moment. "Do you believe me now, Lancelot?" she asked, her voice lilting to take on a teasing note as she called him by the obviously affectionate nickname but the teasing tone was almost drowned by her emotions.

Lance didn't verbally answer her. He just dropped his rifle, took the few steps he needed to and pulled Rachel into a hug tighter than any he'd ever given her before while she'd still been alive. He didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he was sobbing into Rachel's shoulders as he held her close, relishing in the feeling of her arms wrapped around him in her own hug. Rachel held onto him for several seconds, her own tears being absorbed by his undersuit and he could feel her hands on the back of his neck. The warmth of her hands and her body had Lance crying harder as he clung to her. He never thought he'd be able to hold her again, let alone speak to her and his mind was having a hard time even believing this was real. The warmth of her body was one detail he'd never been able to recall accurately when he tried to remember the last time he'd hugged his sister before her death. That detail alone helped his brain realise that this was really happening and his twin sister was in front of him once more.

The team watched as Lance and Rachel hugged one another tightly. There was a small amount of awkwardness on Keith's and Pidge's parts since neither knew what they should be doing right now while Hunk had tears streaming down his face far quicker than he could wipe them away. Shiro was watching the scene with grief and joy warring in his heart. On one hand, this would give Lance the opportunity to speak to his sister once more time but on the other, this could make things worse for Lance as he tried to heal from Rachel's death. It may not have crossed anyone else's minds but Shiro knew deep down that this wasn't going to last forever. Rachel would have to move on and Lance wouldn't be able to speak to her again ever.

"It seems you have figured out the reason we do not advertise our ability," Ané said from behind Shiro, causing the Black Paladin to look over his shoulder at her. "It was known millennia ago about our abilities. We had people visiting from planets we'd never heard of as they sought to trade with us so they may ask for us to summon a loved one so they may talk to them," she explained, her eyes on Lance and Rachel. "At first, we accepted and agreed to their trades. We had the ability to allow someone to speak to a loved one they otherwise wouldn't have been able to. It helped a lot of people move on when a loved one was taken too soon and it helped them get closure if a loved one was taken from them at the hands of someone else. We were able to help a lot of people move on from a loved one's death since they were able to ask them everything they'd wanted or needed to but never had the chance to do so before they were gone," she told him, her eyes filled with a happiness that drained quickly.

"But there were people who demanded we bring a loved one back again and again," Ané told Shiro, her voice low. "Our ancestors refused as it's taxing enough for us to bring a loved one back one time for someone. Doing so for the same deceased soul could cause an imbalance in their realm and ours and it could seriously hurt the Risban calling the soul over," she explained. "Those people didn't take our ancestors' refusal well and we were attacked," she told him. "We won the fight but not without a great cost to our people. We closed our planet to outsiders and refused to trade with anyone for centuries. Eventually our abilities were forgotten about by the outside world and we felt safe enough to enter trade negotiations with our neighbouring planets," Ané said. "Rohan was the one to finalise those trades and he was the one who thought joining your coalition would be good for Risban. The fact that you responded so quickly to our call for aid when the Galran attacked us, leading to your Blue Paladin being here to save my Erri shows that Rohan was right," she told him, her voice filled with numerous emotions.

"I've never used my ability on someone who wasn't a Risban," Ané divulged, "but when I felt Lance's pain and his guilt, I couldn't just leave him to suffer like that. Not when I had the power to try and help him find the closure he needed," she said, looking at Shiro for the first time since she'd started speaking. Lance and Rachel had given no indication they'd heard anything Ané had said but the three other Paladins had given her their full attention once they realised what she was talking about. "He saved my daughter, not because it was his duty to do so but because he couldn't stand to see a child scared and alone like Erri was. He took shots that were meant for her without thinking of the consequences to himself and he kept her calm and made her feel at ease once the fighting was over," Ané said. Not a single Paladin could even pretend to be surprised when they heard that. None of them had been able to see what was happening with Lance completely but they had seen bits and pieces as they tried to keep him safe on the ground and fight the Galrans in the air. "This, giving someone as kind-hearted as him the chance to heal from something as tragic as his Rachel's death, it was the least I could do for him," Ané said, her voice telling all of them that she held no regrets over her actions.

They couldn't say anything in response to Ané's words as their attention was drawn back to Lance and Rachel as the shorter of the two pulled away from the hug to take in her brother. "You always told us that you were our knight in shining armour," Rachel teased as she pulled away from Lance. "It may not be shiny but you certainly found yourself some armour," she joked, flicking the first piece of Lance's armour she could reach.

Lance was trying his best to wipe away his tears with the hand that wasn't currently clutching one of her arms while he chuckled. "I said that once when we were seven and you remember that but you can't remember nearly stabbing me during our first game of monopoly when we were eleven?" Lance asked, grinning when Rachel rolled her eyes.

"It never happened. You're just dramatic, _hermano_ ," Rachel tsked at him, earning herself another wet chuckle. Her eyes were twinkling with warmth before they dulled slightly. "How long has it been?" she asked. She didn't need to specify what she was referring to and Lance's grin dropped immediately.

"We don't know how long it's been exactly since we found Blue and started trying to save the universe," Lance told her, his eyes falling to the side. "I still have my phone and Pidge built me a charger for it but we can't be certain that it's still keeping track of the days accurately but if it is," Lance took a deep breath, "the two year anniversary will be in a couple of weeks. Our 18th isn't for another four and a half months," he told her.

Rachel's eyes widened a fraction and her breath seemed to catch in her throat before she forced herself to relax. "No wonder you're so much taller than me, hm?" she said, ruffling his hair. It was blindingly obvious to those watching the two of them that she was doing exactly what Lance did in this sort of situation: deflect with a joke.

"You can't trick the master of deflection, _peque_ _ñ_ _a bailarina,_ " Lance told her softly, giving her a knowing smile that had her rolling her eyes.

"You learnt that from me," she told him, poking him in his chest plate. There was silence for a couple of moments before Rachel grinned widely with obvious effort and looked at Lance, a glint of something in her eye. "What's been going on since I've been gone? You know I need my dose of gossip, Lancelot," she said before her eyes found Hunk's once more. "And don't think I didn't see you over there, Hunky. Come and give your favourite adopted _hermana_ a hug and help Lance bring me up to date!" she ordered, using the same bossy, teasing voice Lance did when he pretended to give Hunk orders for hugs.

Hunk didn't hesitate and nearly crushed Rachel with his hug, almost tugging her arm completely out of Lance's grip but the Blue Paladin managed to keep a hold of her. "I've missed you so much, Rach," Hunk sobbed, pulling away from her to look her in the eyes. "Nothing's been the same without you there. Lance and I – we struggled for a long time to try and get some kind of hold on life without you in it and there were days where it seemed like we wouldn't," Hunk told her.

Rachel's eyes welled with tears as she pulled Hunk and Lance back into a hug. "I'm so sorry I left you both like that," she told them, quiet voice carrying the few feet to the other Paladins and the three Risbans watching them. She pulled away from them, shaking her head before they could speak. "Uh-uh, we're leaving the emotional stuff for last. Gossip. Now," she ordered, glaring at them in a silent dare to deprive her of what she wanted.

Lance grinned at her before he decided to do as she asked. "Nadia and Sylvio started pre-school a few months after," Lance told her, not specifying what he meant but he didn't need to. "They were driving Luis and Lisa up the wall because Nadia adores school and doesn't want to come home but Sylvio hates it and doesn't want to leave the house," he told her.

"Oh I bet Luis is _loving_ that! Mamá is probably sitting back thinking that he's getting a taste of the kind of crap he used to pull on her when it came to school," Rachel said, sounding delighted in the idea of her older brother suffering at the hands of his children.

"He's not enjoying it and I've definitely seen Mamá grin when she's on the phone and listening to him complain," Lance confirmed. "Veronica was hoping to be transferred to the Garrison the last I heard so that she could keep a close eye on me and Hunk and make sure we didn't cause any troubles for our professors," he divulged, pulling a face when Rachel giggled. "I don't know if she's going to now that we aren't there," he said, glancing at Hunk. "They probably told them we were dead a couple of weeks after we found Blue. I don't think Ronnie would wanna work there after that," he told her, his eyes growing sad as he let himself start drifting into imagining his and Hunk's families reactions to the news.

"My mums have tried smuggling food into the Garrison more times than I can count and the last time someone told them they couldn't, they started lecturing about how they didn't feed us right and they couldn't trust the Garrison to look after our nutritional needs," Hunk told Rachel, effectively pulling Lance's attention back to the conversation when he heard Rachel's laughter. "They caused such a fuss that they're now allowed to send anything they want so long as it doesn't require refrigeration or heating for us to eat it," Hunk said, sounding very smug about his mothers' success with the Garrison.

"Oh I can imagine the two of them doing that," Rachel said, a grin on her face as she envisioned the two Garrett women tearing some poor Garrison employee a new one about not letting them send their son and adopted son care packages. "So you got into the Garrison?" Rachel asked, smile softening as she looked at Lance.

"Yeah, by some minor miracle they decided to accept my application," Lance told her, earning himself an elbow in the side from Hunk that had him whining as he rubbed the bruised spot.

"You deserved that acceptance letter. We worked our arses off to get in there and you know it," Hunk reminded him, refusing to let his best friend make jokes like that about himself.

Rachel watched the exchange approvingly. "And now you're here, achieving your dreams," she told Lance, looking around her, though she did frown when she spotted the destroyed Galran fighters and burned land. "Though there seems to be a lot more fighting than what you described to me," she observed before her eyes snapped back to Lance's, blazing protectively. "Are you safe? Why are you fighting at all? What happened to drag you into this? Did you drag Hunk into it as well? You two are so reckless together!" she ranted, looking two moments away from smacking them both upside the head.

"Would you relax?!" Lance exclaimed, leaning a bit further away from her. "A lot of stuff happened a few months back. Long story short, Shiro got captured and held for a year by a hostile race of aliens. He escaped and crashed on Earth where we," Lance gestured to himself, Hunk, Pidge and Keith, "found and rescued him before the Garrison could try and cover it up. Not long after that, we found Blue and she chose me as her pilot. We boarded her, fought the couple of Galrans who'd managed to track Shiro's escape pod and were wormholed to a planet called Arus, where we found the Castle-Ship and revived Princess Allura and her advisor, Coran, from a 10-000-year long sleep. We split up and found the rest of the Lions, Allura and Coran told us what was going on and what it meant for us to have been chosen by the Lions and now we're currently fighting against the Galran and trying to free the universe from the current hold their leader and his right-hand witch have on it," Lance said before he finally paused to take a breath.

Rachel looked stunned, as did the Paladins. They hadn't heard their adventure summed up quite so neatly and quickly. "But you're safe, right? Both of you?" Rachel asked, fear and worry in her eyes.

"We're as safe as we possibly can be," Hunk assured her. "Our team and our Lions don't let much happen to us if they can manage it," he promised her. He decided it probably wouldn't be in Lance's best interests or continued streak of no injuries if he made a teasing comment about Lance making Blue's and their jobs harder than everyone else.

Rachel didn't look awfully happy but she did relax at Hunk's reassurances. "I suppose that's the best I can hope for if you're fighting in an inter-galactic war, huh?" she said glumly. Both Lance and Hunk didn't really react but she saw enough in their reactions to know she was right. "Who's your team? You've mentioned them a couple of times now," she said as she started looking around for them. It didn't take her long to spot them standing next to Ané, Erri and Rohan.

"That's them," Lance confirmed when he realised she'd spotted them. He waved them over and the three of them did so reluctantly. They didn't want to impose on such a personal scene. "These are Pidge, Keith and Shiro. Shiro's our team lead," he told Rachel, pointing to them as he said their names.

Rachel's eyes narrowed at them all. "You're keeping these two safe, right? They're hopeless by themselves," she said, flapping a hand when Hunk and Lance immediately protested her words. "Do you really want me to list all of your notable moments right now?" she asked, eyes sparkling in victory when both of them snapped their mouths shut.

"Yes," Pidge couldn't help by say, a touch of gleefulness and mischief in her voice as she imagined all the blackmail material she could be given.

"No," Lance said, pointing a warning finger at Pidge before he turned to Rachel. "You say one word and I'll…" he switched to Spanish so everyone except Rachel and Hunk were in the dark. "Got it, sis?" Lance asked as Rachel scowled.

"Fine. I won't embarrass you in front of your team," she said, sounding thoroughly put out about it. It had nothing on Pidge's pout though.

Shiro decided perhaps it was a good idea to answer the original question. "Yes, we are," he told Rachel, getting her attention right away. "We all have each other's backs and we're all doing our best to make sure we all make it back home," he promised her.

Rachel kept eye contact for several seconds, obviously gauging Shiro's words and deciding for herself about whether Shiro was being truthful. Finally, she nodded and gave Shiro a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said sincerely before she turned back to her brother and friend. "You two still haven't told me about Mamá and Papá or the she-devils yet," Rachel reminded them, throwing all of them slightly with the switch in subjects.

"It was really hard for them," Lance said, looking apologetic at dipping into the emotional stuff like Rachel hadn't wanted, "especially the first couple of months. They tried really hard to put on a brave face for us, me especially, but I think our birthday was the worst time. I told them I didn't want to celebrate it. I couldn't handle having our 16th birthday party without you there to help blow out the candles and try to shove cake in my face. They kept trying to convince me to have a small party. I think they thought that by doing so, we would be remembering you and keeping life as normal as possible but I refused," Lance admitted, looking a little ashamed. "It was the first big fight we'd had since the accident and I think there were some things said by everyone that shouldn't have been said," he told her.

"It took a few days for everyone to calm down enough to speak about it again but this time Hunk was there and he helped me figure out why I couldn't celebrate our 16th. Once I could put it into words, I told Mamá and Papá and they seemed to understand it and they explained why they still wanted to have one, even if it was just us and Hunk there for it," Lance said. "We ended up compromising. We had your favourite dinner and we shared stories like we usually did but there were no presents and desert was just a whatever Mamá felt like whipping up that day," he told Rachel, a small amount of regret in his voice before he shook his head slightly.

"After that, I think things settled into what would be our new normal. Hunk and I left for the Garrison shortly after our birthday though Mamá and Papá weren't happy that we'd even applied in the first place. They felt like it was too soon after everything and they were worried about me," Lance told her. "It took a couple of weeks for me to stop ignoring their calls and start talking to them again. Once we worked through everything regarding the Garrison, we spoke every day, sometimes twice a day just so Mamá could be certain I was alright and that Hunk was looking after himself," he told Rachel, who merely chuckled and nodded like she expected nothing less. "Before we found Blue, they were trying to convince me to go home for our birthday. But they're doing okay now. I know there are still some days where it's hard for them and I honestly don't know how they can still live in the house but they are doing better. Or they were when I last spoke to them," Lance told her.

"I'm glad they are. I don't want any of you to be moping like in _abuela's_ telenovelas," Rachel said firmly. There was an undercurrent of seriousness in her joking tone that told both Hunk and Lance that she truly meant her words. "Now, the she-devils. What have those two terrors been doing?" Rachel asked, looking as though she almost didn't want to know.

Lance's grin was brighter than it had been but it fell too. "Maria and Rosa have calmed down a lot, actually," he told her and they all saw the way Rachel's face fell too. "I think losing you took a toll on both of them. Plus they were worried about me because it took me a while to heal completely from the accident and the atmosphere in the house was so morose for so long that I think Maria and Rosa tried their best to not cause any of their usual trouble," Lance told her and Rachel closed her eyes, allowing a couple of tears to slip down her cheeks. "I know Ronnie wanted to talk to them, make sure they were okay and dealing with everything healthily and I had decided to go home for our birthday so that I could talk to them as well but all of this happened," Lance said, gesturing to the Lions and his team.

"You had better hurry up and finish whatever it is that you're doing out here with Hunk and these Lions and people so you can go home and check on them!" Rachel ordered him. Pointing her finger at him, it was obvious she was expecting him to do exactly as she said or there would be severe consequences if he didn't.

"That's the plan," Lance assured her, a grin tugging at his lips as he watched Rachel deflate slightly. A small gasp from both Rachel and Ané had anything else Lance was going to say on the subject go out the window. "Rach? Ané?" he asked, looking at both of them worriedly.

"I apologise, Blue Paladin," Ané said as she brought the hand she'd been holding against her temple back to her side. "Normally I can maintain this connection longer but I think the fact that your Rachel isn't of my people means I can't," she told him and Lance's face dropped as he realised what she meant. "You only have a couple more dobashes before I must let your Rachel go back to where her soul had been resting," she warned him.

It was obvious Lance wanted to protest, to beg the Risban for more time but Rachel didn't let him. Instead, she grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged him in for another hug. "You can't ask her to keep me here until you're ready to let me go because you and I both know that you'll be old and grey before you even start considering it," Rachel told him, even as she clutched at him tighter. It took her a moment longer before she was able to pull back away from her brother but she managed it.

"Now, you listen to me, Lance McClain," she instructed him, one hand on his shoulder and her index finger on her other hand pointed sternly in front of his face. "What happened to me was _not_ your fault," she told him firmly, cut him off with a cutting motion of her free hand when he went to protest. "It was a horrible accident. You didn't check the street before you pulled me across but I didn't check it either. If I'd been paying more attention rather than focusing on getting to class on time and teasing you about beating you in that race, I would've noticed that car before you stepped out into the street and pulled you back and neither of us would've been hurt," she told him, her regret and guilt almost burying Lance. "I will never regret putting your life ahead of my own that day," she told him, voice choking up from the emotions she felt. "Because of my actions, you were able to join the Garrison and find your Blue Lion and head out into the universe and _save so many lives_ ," she said, sounding awed at her brother's actions.

"What do you think would've happened if you and I had both died that day?" She didn't wait for his answer as she continued speaking. "The Blue Lion might've been able to find or chose another pilot but none of them would've been you and they wouldn't have achieved what you've done. Now I don't know exactly what you've done while you've been in space but I know you and what you're like," Rachel said, tears glistening down her cheeks once more. Lance wasn't bothering to hide his own. "You told us that you would be our knight in shining armour," she said, repeating her earlier words, "but you've become a knight for so many other people. You're a hero and you're still fighting to keep the universe safe. How many big sisters can say their little brother has done the same thing?" she asked, a smirk forming on her lips.

"I couldn't be prouder of you, Lance, and I know that our family will be just as proud of you as I am," Rachel told him, voice filled with nothing but honestly and love. "I am so grateful that you survived the accident and I would still be as grateful even if none of this intergalactic stuff had happened to you," she said, "because I am your big sister and it is my job to make sure my little brother is safe," she told him, a smile on her lips. The words were obviously something she'd said a lot to Lance when she'd still been alive but they had an added weight to them now. She raised her hand and cradled Lance's cheek. "Please stop blaming yourself for a decision I made and that I would make over and over again," she requested softly.

Lance sobbed lightly before he tried giving her a teasing smirk that ended up trembling immensely. "I've never listened to you before. Why should I start now?" Lance asked, his voice heavy even as he tried to keep his tone light. Rachel gave him a look that told him she wasn't buying what he was trying to sell. "I – I don't know if I can promise you that right now, Rach," Lance whispered, obviously upset with himself that he couldn't.

Rachel didn't seem surprised. "I know but I want you to promise that you'll do your best to try," she asked and this time, Lance gave her a nod. "Thank you, Lancelot," she said before she whirled on Hunk, who very nearly took a step backwards. "You need to make sure he does and that you help each move on from what happened. I don't want you guys to join me where I am and find out that you kept moping for years!" she informed Hunk, who was already nodding in agreement.

"Yes, I promise!" Hunk told her and Rachel softened once more before she grabbed him in a hug that rivalled one of Hunk's own.

"Good because I don't want either of you to miss out on your lives because you're too busy mourning the loss of mine," Rachel told him as she stretched onto her tippy toes to hug him as best as she could. "I want lots of stories from you both when it's your time to join me and so help me, I will be extremely pissed off if neither of you are grey and old by that time," she told them, pinning both of them with her blazing glare.

"We'll do our best," Hunk promised her as Lance nodded, too busy trying to hold himself together while Rachel was still with him.

Rachel seemed satisfied with that answer so she turned to her next targets: the three remaining Paladins. "I know you're already doing your best and that these two can make it difficult at times but I would really appreciate it if you continued looking after them," Rachel said, her voice hitching as she tried to keep her emotions in check while she spoke.

"We swear we will," Shiro said while Pidge and Keith nodded next to him. Rachel noticed the way the three of them were watching both Hunk and Lance and the fact that none of them were bothering to hide just how much they wanted to comfort the both of them.

Happy with what she saw, Rachel dipped her head at them. "Thank you," she said before she locked eyes with Ané. Her time here was nearly up and Rachel found herself wishing she could do exactly what she'd forbidden Lance from doing: ask the alien for more time. Instead, she turned back to her twin and pulled him into what would be their last hug. "Tell our _familia_ that I miss them so much. Make sure Nadia and Sylvio continue following in Maria and Rosa's footsteps and make Luis' life a living hell. Make sure Rosa and Maria are okay and that they return to being the hellions I knew and loved. Make sure that Ronnie is following her dreams and that if you go back to the Garrison and she's working there that you don't cause her too much trouble. Make sure Mamá and Papá are coping without me and that they're both still okay the moment you're home," Rachel said rapidly, feeling Lance nod to each request she made. "Make sure you and Hunk stay safe so you can go home and make sure that you stop blaming yourself, _hermano_ ," Rachel told Lance once more. She felt Lance tense in her arms so she pulled back to look him in the eyes.

Lance's own blue eyes were shining from the tears spilling out of them as he tried to control his sobbing long enough to choke out what he wanted to say. "It's so hard not to blame myself for what happened when I could've changed so many little things that meant the accident never would've happened," he cried. "I miss you so much, Rachel," he told her. "Some days, it feels like part of my soul is gone and I don't know how to function without you there. It's been nearly two years and I still break down when someone mentions your name or I grab my phone to shoot you a text before I remember you won't be able to read them. Hunk's been doing his best to be there for me and he's been my rock through everything but it's just so hard," Lance sobbed and Rachel felt her heart break for her brother.

She pulled him back into a hug at the same time she felt a tugging feeling in her abdomen and she knew she only had seconds remaining. "I couldn't imagine trying to live my life without you in it, little brother, but you are the strongest person I know. You will find some way to forgive yourself for what happened to us and for you to move on and I hope that in your darkest moments that you remember that I have never blamed you for it and I will never regret my decision," Rachel told him, holding him as tightly as she could. "I love you so much, Lance, and you know how much I hate seeing you beat yourself up for something that wasn't your fault," she said, an attempt at levity in her voice. "I'll see you again, little brother, and I will always be there for you, even if you can't see me," Rachel told him, tears flowing freely once more as she felt Lance shudder against her and the tugging feeling grew stronger. "Live your life to the fullest then live it a little more for me, Lancelot," she said, pulling away a little.

Lance didn't need Ané's warning to know that Rachel would be gone soon. "I love you too, Rach," Lance told her. "I'll do my best to listen to what you said, _peque_ _ñ_ _a bailarina,_ " he promised her, opening his eyes in time to see his sister shakily grin at him.

"It's about time you did," Rachel told him before she kissed his cheek. She barely managed to let go of Lance and wave at both him and Hunk before she faded out of sight as Ané let go of her soul.

Hunk moved immediately to grab onto Lance and pull him into a hug the second Rachel was gone and they both held onto each other as they let their tears fall. Shiro, Pidge and Keith all stood there, unsure of whether joining the hug would be ill-advised but Hunk blindly gestured for them to do so. The moment the three of them were withing Hunk's reach, they were yanked into the group hug without so much as a word exchanged between them and the two best friends. Keith and Shiro found themselves pinned to Hunk's and Lance's sides by Hunk himself while Pidge, being the smallest and therefore able to avoid being swept up by Hunk, was able to position herself so she was hugging both boys as best she could without being squashed.

Shiro knew they would be speaking of this back on the Castle-Ship, if only because he just knew that Allura and Coran would have realised something had happened to Lance while they were on the ground and they would need an explanation. However, until the two Alteans demanded to know what was happening, Shiro was content to give what comfort he could to two of his family members while he had the chance to do so.

* * *

"Are you alright, Ané?"Rohan asked as he approached the spirit summoner, who was currently rubbing her temple once more, though this time her face was pinched as though she was in a small amount of pain. Erri was gazing up at her mother, worry edging its way into the young girl's black eyes.

"Yes. Thank you for asking though, Rohan," Ané said as she dropped her hand. Supplying Rachel's soul with the energy it needed to manifest itself for as long as it was had cost Ané a lot of energy and the backlash had shown itself in a sudden headache that had lasted only a few moments once Rachel's soul was at rest once more.

Rohan seemed appeased by this answer and he joined the two females in watching the Green, Red and Black Paladins doing their best to comfort the Yellow and Blue ones. "Do you think the Blue Paladin will be alright?" Rohan asked after a few moments of watching the humans in front of him.

He'd been concerned when Ané had spoken to him while the Paladins had greeted one another after the battle and the Blue one had introduced Erri to his teammates about summoning the Blue Paladin's Rachel so he may speak to her once more. He'd been worried that the human wouldn't be able to cope with his sister's soul being brought back by Ané but she had managed to convince him that the Blue Paladin was stronger than he seemed. Right now, Rohan wasn't sure he could believe her assurances completely.

Ané simply smiled at him before her attention turned back to Erri's saviour. "I felt his Rachel's soul thank me for what I did. I believe that soul is now completely at rest because of my allowing him to speak with her once more," Ané told him. "I still believe what I had told you before. The Blue Paladin is stronger than he looks and, yes, I do believe that my actions will allow him to heal as much as one can after a tragedy such as what had befallen the two of them," Ané said, her voice filled with conviction.

Rohan could offer nothing more than a slightly unsure hum in response to her words. It wasn't that he didn't believe his fellow Risban but he wasn't certain he held the same faith she did. A slight tug at one of his hands attracted Rohan's attention and he glanced down to find Erri looking up at him. "My mother is right. The Blue Paladin is stronger than everyone believes," Erri told him, her young voice filled with the faith that her mother also held. "He will be just fine, especially with his friends and family there to help him through this."

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I wrote this in like eight hours. It's probably not great but here it is anyways. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, even it's to tell me to never touch my laptop whilst sleep deprived again! Much love!
> 
> Translations are as follows:
> 
> hermano - brother  
> hermana - sister  
> abuela - grandmother  
> pequeña bailarina - little dancer


End file.
